If Fed bond purchases last longer and benchmark interest rate hikes get pushed further into the future, stocks related to housing, autos and finance stand to gain.

The top five IBD 50 stocks that may be best poised to benefit from the Fed's lack of action are Lithia Motors (LAD), Ocwen Financial (OCN), Lumber Liquidators (LL), Evercore Partners (EVR) and Nationstar Mortgage Holdings (NSM).

Lithia leads the group with a No. 4 ranking on the IBD 50. Automakers have already seen their fortunes turn up as more people trade in their jalopies to buy new cars, with help from low interest rates.

Medford, Ore.-based Lithia operates a chain of new- and used-car dealerships in rural locations, where it's often the only dealer in town.

Share prices have nearly doubled this year, and have raced up nearly 10-fold in the past three years. Lithia has posted double-digit profit and sales growth for at least the past 10 quarters, and boasts a Composite Rating of 98.

More people tend to shop for a home when mortgage rates are low, a reason the housing market has been rebounding. Though they've risen from record lows, still-low rates could keep boosting mortgage-loan servicers like Ocwen Financial, No. 6 on the IBD 50.

Ocwen, which earns a highest-possible 99 Composite, has a three-year earnings growth rate of 69%. Analysts expect profit to jump 153% this year and 71% the next. Shares are up 66% this year.

Lumber Liquidators, No. 7, is poised to gain as low rates also point to more homebuilding and renovations. Shares of the flooring retailer have surged more than 700% in the past two years — and 115% just this year.

The Toano, Va.-based company hit a rough patch in late 2010 to mid-2011 as earnings dipped and sales growth slowed, but it's consistently beaten Street estimates on both measures the past six quarters.

The company also provides investment management for private equity funds, which are usually more active when rates are low since it's cheaper to borrow to buy companies. Shares have rallied 66% this year.

Nationstar, No. 43, rounds out the top five. The provider of non-bank residential mortgage servicing across the U.S. has seen revenue grow in the triple-digits the past five quarters.

Its 99 Composite indicates its combined fundamental ratings and share-price performance outperform 99% of all other stocks tracked by IBD. Nationstar shares have rocketed 85% this year.

Ocwen Financial (NYSE:OCN) said it has agreed to sell an additional $25 billion in residential mortgage servicing rights to Nationstar Mortgage Holdings (NYSE:NSM), just one month after selling an almost $10 billion portfolio. The servicing rights portfolio consists of about 142,000 loans owned by ...

Driven by new, big-name investors and a flood of capital-spend online operations, the dynamics of the auto retail industry are shifting. "There has probably never been a more interesting time to shop for a car," James Albertine of Stifel Nicolaus told IBD. The new aluminum-bodied Ford (NYSE:F) ...

Lumber Liquidators (NYSE:LL) shares are climbing as the flooring retailer held a conference call to respond to a March 1 "60 Minutes" segment that alleged the company's China-made laminate flooring contained excessive levels of formaldehyde. But its first-quarter outlook, which takes into account ...

03/12/2015 12:38 PM ET

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